3 things that stood out from Wisconsin’s win over UCLA: Nick Boyd becoming the leader?

The Wisconsin Badgers earned their second Big Ten win of the season with an 80-72 victory over the UCLA Bruins. Like the Purdue game, Wisconsin got off to a solid start, this time holding a 16-4 lead by staying engaged on defense and moving the ball effectively on offense.

Unlike the Purdue game, the Badgers sustained that momentum for the rest of the first half. Wisconsin found themselves up by as many as 20 in the first half before taking a 45-31 lead into halftime.  

UCLA, primarily led by Eric Dailey Jr.’s 12 second-half points, responded by cutting the Badgers’ lead to 63-56. That was as close as the Bruins got, as Wisconsin kept UCLA at arm’s length for the rest of the game. 

While Wisconsin earned a much-needed win against UCLA, the Badgers continue a frustrating trend this season by taking their foot off the gas pedal. That cannot fly next Saturday in Ann Arbor, as the Badgers take on a Michigan Wolverines squad ranked No. 2 in the AP Top 25.

Here are three things that stood out from Wisconsin’s win over UCLA on Tuesday night:

Three-point shooting

The Badgers came into this game on a cold stretch from behind the three-point line. Against UCLA, Wisconsin connected on eight three-pointers on sixteen shots in the first half to take control of the game. 

Despite UW going 2-of-14 from three in the second half and finishing the game shooting 10 for 30, they still won. How? Because the UCLA Bruins were dreadful from three, shooting 1-of-17 for the game. There’s no question the Bruins were missing their best three-point shooter in Skyy Clark, who sat out this game with a hamstring injury.   

Badgers’ balanced scoring

Four starters finished with double-digit scoring outputs, led by Nick Boyd’s 20 points. Right behind Boyd was Nolan Winter, who chipped in 18 points. John Blackwell, who had a combined 17 points in the last two games, had a bounce-back performance with 17 points on Tuesday.

Finally, Andrew Rohde had 12 points, his highest scoring output since the Badgers’ win over Marquette back on December 6th.   

Nick Boyd

While this win was a team effort, I’m giving the MVP of Tuesday’s game to Boyd. In addition to leading the Badgers in scoring, Boyd dished out a team-high five assists and eight rebounds. That performance puts Boyd in high company.

At the end of the game, there was a minor scuffle between Dailey Jr. and Badger players after a hard foul, later deemed flagrant by Nolan Winter.

When asked about it, Boyd said that the Badgers “are getting pushed around too much” these last few weeks, so he stepped in to back up Winter in the scuffle.

Love to hear those comments from Boyd after the game.